Complete Opposites
by baileyelise
Summary: We were complete opposites. He was a bloodthirsty killer, who showed no mercy on anyone. I was sweet and couldn't kill a soul. But we both fell in love with each other and I didn't know how that was possible.


I woke up to a soft nudging on my shoulder, growing stronger every time I didn't respond. Surprisingly, I got a fair amount of sleep last night. Even though my sister's moaning in her dreams woke me up several times, I got a decent amount of sleep for the night of the reaping. My sister is fourteen, which makes her old enough for the reaping. Even though, I don't know why she's worried. Her name is in the bowl three times, all because she had to. My father never let us take out any tesserae, which resulted in him working overtime at work, coming home with horrid back pains. He was a lumberjack, like most people in our district. I once asked him why he worked so hard, he told me it fed us. I never asked him again why again but it didn't stop me from secretly putting my name in an extra three times behind his back. The nudging turned into hard shoving, "Come on Ainsley, wake up." The voice spoke, shoving me again. I mumbled something I couldn't even make out and pushed the hand away. I opened my eyes and automatically pushing the hand to the top of my eyes, trying to block the light from the open window. The person in front of me was a blur of light, making me not know who they were. I pushed my wool blanket away from my body, eventually sitting up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I blinked a few times, the person finally coming into few but slowly. The wavy brown hair, dark eyes, pretty face. Kalie. A smile creeped onto my lips when everything came into few. "Hey." I mumbled. Kalie Stainago was my best friend since we were little, and we've grown closer every year. Kalie was seventeen, a year older then me, with dark brown hair that matched her eyes. She was tall and skinny but had muscles from working in the forests like me. "Let's go, I wanna head to the woods before the reapin'." She stated, standing up from her previous position, which was crouching next to my bed. "Get dressed, I'll be the kitchen." She was currently wearing a dark pair of jeans, they were worn down probably from years of wear from her sister. The only clothes Kalie got was from her older sister, but I don't think she minded. Her shirt was the color of a navy blue, a light wool jacket over her shoulders. Her shoes landed heavy and loud when she walked into the kitchen. I waited quietly for my parents or sister to wake up, but they didn't. The house was cool and silent as usual. I stood up, my bed creaking lightly and I tip-toed to the small wooden dresser in the room, which I shared with my sister and I didn't want to wake her. She barely got sleep last night, worried that she was going to be reaped. I pulled open one of the wooden drawers, slipping out of my night clothes and pulling on a pair of worn light jeans and a plaid button up shirt, which had long sleeved so I didn't need a jacket. After I finished dressing, I carefully placed my night clothes on the top of the dresser before looking at my sister. She laid in her bed, tangled blankets around her feet, her blond hair covering her face. I sighed quietly, still wishing I was asleep like that. Every morning right when the sun came up, Kalie climbed in my window and woke me up, wanting to go to the woods before the day officially started. Me and Kalie were different from each other, but it didn't bug us one bit. She was the more out-going and sassy type, while I remained quiet, not because I chose to, because I didn't have much to say. I slipped my boots on, the soft leather molting into my feet before I walked into the kitchen. "Finally, I thought you fell asleep again." Kalie chuckled quietly. Kalie was always trying to make even the saddest days happy. I walked over to her, turning around so she could pull up my hair. Sometimes it felt like I was going to a complete circle, doing the same small things everyday. But it made me happy. I grabbed my forest day, which was really just a brown leather bag that went over my chest. We walked out of the house in silence, not wanting to wake up my family. When they woke up, they would know perfectly where I went. We stepped along the rocky rode, taking a short cut by going through Mrs. Uderfield's lawn. District Seven was one of the largest Districts in all of Panem. Most people would think it would be full of buildings or factories but actually it was all forests. There was a town square, where laid the Justice Building and the nice shops, if you turned left, it would take you to the poor neighborhood where the all the rundown stores and paper factories that was rarely used. Though if you turned right, you ended up at my house and Kalie's. The decent neighborhood where most lumberjack's lived like my father. Past the houses you ended up in the enormous forest along with a dam, which was often used for fishing. Most people would think it was against the law to fish or gather but it wasn't actually, everyone was allowed. I personally think they allowed it because the workers need more food so they could go longer. I almost always collected apples when we went. We eventually made it to the far end of the woods, which was our favorite place. It had the most food because most people don't have time to travel back as far as we do. I sat under a huge oak tree, my back resting against the rough bark while Kalie stood, picking up acorns and chucking them at the tree. Each time they hit, it echoed through the quiet woods. I looked up at the leafy branches where the sun poked through until a heard Kalie curse. "Goddammit." She throws the rest of her acorns down on the forest floor before sitting down next to me. At first, I thought she was joking until I looked over at her. Tears were coating her dark eyes and that's when I knew something was horribly wrong. Kalie never cried infront of people, I've only seen her cry once when we were younger and her mother died by milk poisoning, or so that's what the doctor told her. "Is every-" Before I could even finish my sentence, she cut me off. "No, Annie, everything is not alright! Wanna know how many times my name is in the reapin'?" She asked, more tears spouting out. "Twenty-nine times, Annie, twenty-nine times!," She shouted, putting her head in her hands, having her sobs muffled. "I know I'm going to be reaped this year, I can just feel it." Kalie's family was a hell lot poorer then I was, having to feed more people and not having a mother to work also; so I knew she would have to take more tesserae then me, she always did. But this year was different. Twenty-nine was a huge number and it meant something very important to us. Twenty-nine chances is for Kalie's name to be picked. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a hug. She cried into my shoulder, her sobs growing quieter by the minute. "Shh, Kalie, it's alright. I promise you won't be reaped." And I knew I could keep that promise. Today, I didn't pick any apples. Today, the odds weren't in Kalie's favor.

By the time I made it back home my family was up and ready for the reaping. I slipped off my shoes at the front door, nodding a hello to my mother who was in the kitchen and walked back to my room to find Brooke, my sister, staring in the mirror we have in our room. "Well don't you look beautiful." I smiled, hugging her lightly before going to my bed, where my mother seemed to have laid out my clothes. "Thanks." She smiled, braiding her hair back before she left the room, leaving me in peace though I wouldn't be in there long. I stood up grabbing my clothes and walked into our 'bathroom' if you would like to call it that. A tub of boiled water waits for me and I quickly get in. The only hot water we have is only when we boil it. I wash my self, taking away the sweat and smell of the woods that I already miss. I washed my hair, going underwater for a few seconds before I came back up, the soap gone from my hair and body. I stood up out of the tub, drying myself off before slipping into the nicest clothing I own and fits me. A white button up shirt, with long sleeves that cuffed at the end. The skirt was also white, which had beautiful flower increased at the end. The shoes though felt like home because they were a pair of thick brown sandals. A small knock same from the door, and I knew it was my mother. She always did my hair on reaping day. She opened the door, smiling at me before going behind me, doing my hair up in small waves that didn't look like it had any pins in it. My mother was an expert on hair. I loved her for that. "There, now you look beautiful like your sister." I smiled thanks to her then heading towards the living room where my father and sister sat. I was closest with my father. He stood up at the sight of me, kissing my forehead, his beard tickling my face. "Well lets go."  
By the time we got to the main square, it was already packed with people ready to get this finished already. I said goodbye to my parents before going over to the sign-in desk with Brooke, getting my figure nipped for blood before I was able to go to the sixteen year old girl rope. I looked around, trying to spy Kalie in the mess of people but I knew it was hopeless. There was too many of us. So I stopped and eventually looked up at the stage they put up for the day, seeing a few chairs for the mayor, our escort, and a few Victors from the past games like Blight and Johanna Mason. After a few minutes of waiting in the cool, silent area, the mayor stood up, giving the same speech he gives every year about how Panem was once called North America and how thirteen districts rebelled against the Capitol and failed, so the Hunger Games was made. It was the same speech every year, that's why I rarely listened. I impatiently waited for our escort to announce the tributes so we could all go home. Our escort's name was Minvera Finals, a perky young lady with a bright colored pumpkin wig, teal skin, with small golden tattoos above her forehead. She scared me but then again, I was scared of everything I didn't know. "Welcome, welcome everyone." She chirped, looking over all of us. "Welcome to the 74th Hunger Games reaping, now time for our tributes." She announced, smiling. But we weren't even close to smiling. She dipped her hand into the females' bowl before pulling out a single slip of paper. Everyone drawled a collective breath, the square was so quiet you could hear her opening the paper. "And the lucky female tribute is..," she opened the small paper, "Ainsley Hayes." It was me. And then I realized I haven't been worried about me all day.


End file.
